Page 18

NOW

July 2023

Lily

Phibsborough, Dublin

They sat at the kitchen table, Zach on one side, his eyes nervously darting from Lily to Michael, who were opposite, their shoulders almost touching. Lily’s heart beat so fast that she was sure Zach could hear it from a few feet away.

‘Thank you for seeing me again,’ Zach said. ‘I was scared I’d frightened you off, and you wouldn’t call again.’

He’d arrived ten minutes after their call, admitting that he’d been in a nearby café for the past hour, hoping to hear from her.

‘It’s a pretty big bombshell you threw at Lily, bud,’ Michael said evenly.

Zach licked his lips and then sipped his water. He was nervous, but so was Lily. It didn’t mean he was doing anything wrong.

‘I didn’t know what to do,’ Zach replied. ‘I planned to say it to you at our first session, but I chickened out. It seemed ludicrous to say it out loud.’

‘It felt pretty ludicrous to hear it,’ Lily replied softly.

Michael picked up the age-progression flyer that Jason had produced. ‘I’m still struggling with how you went from this photograph to deciding you are Robert.’

Zach nodded and licked his lips again. ‘I can’t explain it. But when I saw Robert’s photograph, I knew it was me. In my gut.’ He looked down to his stomach, then back to Lily and Michael.

Then his eyes moved to three large canvas prints that hung on the kitchen wall. In the centre was Lily and Michael on their wedding day, gazing into each other’s eyes. On the left, Michael stood between his mum and dad. And, on the right, Lily stood between her parents, Kimberly and Jason.

‘I told you I had an imaginary friend when I was a child,’ Zach said. ‘If you’d asked me to describe what she looked like, I would have struggled, because her face had become blurred and vague over the years.’ His lips quivered as his eyes closed for a brief second.

Lily’s mouth was dry, and she couldn’t speak. Her eyes now locked on the family photograph too.

Zach raised his hand and pointed to Kimberly. ‘But her face became clear again, when I saw this photograph. She looked exactly like her.’

Lily heard a gasp. Then she realised that it was she who’d emitted it.

Zach turned back to Lily and said, ‘That’s my other mother.’

Lily felt Michael’s hand move towards hers and clasp it between his own. Her body trembled as Zach’s words sunk in.

‘Before you got here, we looked you up on Instagram,’ Michael said evenly.

‘I would assume nothing less,’ Zach replied.

‘I saw your family – your parents, your sisters, your work colleagues. There is a lot of information on social media, available within a few quick clicks of a mouse.’

Zach locked eyes with Michael. ‘You think I looked up Lily’s socials and am here for . . . for what exactly?’

‘That’s what I’d like to understand,’ Michael said. ‘What do you want from my wife?’

‘Nothing. Everything. I don’t know.’ Zach placed his face in his hands and took a deep breath.

Lily’s heart constricted, and she felt sympathy wash over her. He’d spoken about his gut and, right now, her gut told her that this man truly believed he was her brother. But that didn’t mean he was right.

‘I have a good family and a good life. I don’t need money; I have a job that pays me more than I could ever spend. My parents are independently wealthy too. So, if you think I’m here for some kind of a shakedown, please know that is not what this is about.’

Michael’s fingers drummed on the table in front of him. ‘What do you remember about your early childhood?’

‘Bits and pieces. I remember Spain, the sunshine, the hills, the people. We lived there for two years until Mom met and married my stepdad. However, most of my early memories are those from Westport in America.’

Spain. A trickle of sweat ran down Lily’s back. She looked at Michael and saw that this had thrown him too.

‘Where in Spain?’ Michael asked.

‘Ronda.’

Lily had never heard of it and raised an eyebrow in query.

‘It’s one of the most beautiful places in Andalusia. It sits atop the edge of a mountain. And locals say it’s so high that it rains upwards. I spent a month there a few years ago, and birds flew beneath my feet as I leaned out over the El Tajo gorge.’

‘Is your mother Spanish?’ Lily asked, confused, because she was sure he’d said she was English.

A shake of his head. ‘She moved to Spain from London when I was a baby.’

‘Is your biological father English too?’ Lily continued her probing.

‘Yes.’

‘But you never met him.’ Lily re-stated.

‘No, I didn’t.’

‘Why?’ Michael asked.

‘He was abusive to my mother. That’s why we ended up in rural Spain. We were hiding from him.’

Hiding . The word hung in the air between them all. Lily couldn’t help but wonder what else Zach’s mother might be hiding. She felt as if she was looking at a giant, unmade jigsaw puzzle with half the pieces missing.

‘And he’s dead now,’ Lily stated.

‘Yes. 2015.’

‘Cancer,’ Lily said, remembering Zach telling her.

‘Yep.’

They sat silently for a moment, each lost in their thoughts.

Lily thought about the woman sitting around the campfire, gazing at Zach so adoringly. ‘Your mother. Is she a good woman?’ Lily asked.

Zach’s answer was immediate. ‘The best.’

‘Do you believe she would be capable of kidnapping a child? Because that’s what you’re accusing her of, if you truly believe you are Robert,’ Lily said.

Zach winced. And tears glistened in his eyes. He inhaled deeply, then said, ‘I cannot comprehend a world where my mother would cause pain to another human. She’s an incredible mother. A good wife. A pillar of our community in Westport. To think she could live that life, knowing she’d taken me from your parents . . . it’s unthinkable.’

‘Yet you do think it,’ Lily whispered.

Zach nodded.

‘When did you move to Spain?’ Michael asked.

‘My mother told me she left my father and moved there in 1982.’

‘Robert went missing in 1983,’ Lily stated, and to her surprise, a stab of disappointment pierced her ribcage. This would mean that Zach couldn’t be her brother.

Zach inhaled profoundly and looked from Michael to Lily. ‘I know that doesn’t add up. There’s something else that is niggling me. It might be nothing but . . .’

‘Go on,’ Michael urged.

‘Mom left my dad when I was six months old. I was born in 1981. And she brought me to Ronda in Spain, where we lived until Mom married Dom, and we relocated to America.’

Lily nodded along, committing the dates to her memory.

‘I went back to Ronda a few years ago. And I visited the villa we’d rented as a baby. It’s carved inside a huge gash in the mountains. Still owned by the same couple that rented it to my mother, Senor and Senora Alvarez.’ He smiled wistfully. ‘I had this romantic notion of tracing my early years. The couple remembered Mom and me.’ His face softened at the memory. ‘They said they babysat me when my mum went into town, shopping. And they had photographs of us all sitting on deckchairs in their back garden.’ His smile disappeared and he frowned. ‘They were the kind of photographs that always have the date imprinted on them.’ He paused, and then finished. ‘I remember thinking that it was weird that every photograph they had was taken in 1983 – nothing before that.’

Lily and Michael exchanged a worried glance.

Lily’s head pounded as she took in Zach’s words. She was beginning to understand why he had so many questions.

‘Maybe they didn’t have a camera until 1983. My parents have hardly any snaps of me and my brother when we were kids,’ Michael said, with a shrug.

But Zach looked doubtful.

‘Do you think your mother took you from my family in 1983 and created this whole story about your abusive father as a ruse to cover that . . .’ Lily said, her jaw dropping open at the thought.

Zach’s mouth quivered, and he looked so vulnerable as he turned to Lily. ‘I feel like I’m losing my mind, Lily. And I’m asking you to help me. Please help me uncover the truth. Help me find out if my life has been a lie and I’m truly your brother.’